He has received numerous Bram Stoker Awards for works such as 'The Box', 'Closing Time', and 'Peaceable Kingdom'. This is the dark-side-of-the-moon version of Stand By Me.' If, on the other hand, you are prepared for a long look into hell, suburban style, The Girl Next Door will not disappoint. If you are easily disturbed, you should not watch this movie. He later went on to say that the movie adaptation of the book was 'the first authentically shocking American film I've seen since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer over 20 years ago. In the special edition of the novel, King, who volunteered to write the preface, wrote one of the longest introductions of his career. The Girl Next Door, for example, was inspired by the 1965 murder of the young Sylvia Likens. Ketchum's work is largely based upon true events. It is not too much to say that these two gentlemen remade the face of American popular fiction.' Ketchum has received continued praise by King throughout their friendship. Stephen King said in his acceptance speech at the 2003 National Book Awards that 'Off Season set off a furor in my supposed field, that of horror, that was unequaled until the advent of Clive Barker. In 1980, Jack Ketchum published his first novel 'Off Season'. His extraordinary encounter with Miller at his home in Pacific Palisades is one of the subjects of his memoir in 'Book of Souls'. He met Henry Miller and assisted him as his agent until shortly before his death in 1980. This relationship with Bloch lasted until his death in 1994.Ī pivotal point in Jack Ketchum's career came while he was working for the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. He supported Ketchum's work just as his work was supported by his own mentor, H.P. As a teenager, was befriended by Robert Bloch, author of 'Psycho' who became a mentor to him. A onetime actor, teacher, and lumber salesman, Ketchum credits his childhood love of Elvis Presley, dinosaurs, and horror for getting him through his formative years. He was born in Livingston, New Jersey in 1946. Jack Ketchum is the pseudonym for novelist Dallas Mayr. Confidential) and Thomas Harris (The Silence of The Lambs),' and that 'the only novelist working today that is writing more important fiction is Cormack McCarthy (No Country for Old Men, The Road).

Jack Ketchum 'is on a par with Clive Barker (Hellraiser), James Ellroy (L.A.

Ladies' Night by Jack Ketchum